


vanishing act

by TackyJackie



Series: petering out [1]
Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Its just angst, M/M, Very little dialogue, blame the discord for this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-11
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2019-03-16 16:22:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13639923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TackyJackie/pseuds/TackyJackie
Summary: Cold bed, cold drinks, cold apartment, and a cold noteNo transport, no comm, no medical aid, and no Juno





	vanishing act

Despite their, ahem,  _conflicting_ lives, Juno Steel and Peter Nureyev somehow made a happy life for themselves. Peter didn't stay on mars all the time, but they made it work, he always told Juno when he'd be leaving and when he'd be coming back. They woke up every morning next to each other and they were safe and loved. Peter can't count the days he'd woken up next to Juno and thought about how lucky he is to have this lady in his life. He sometimes just watches Juno drool and snore just to cement in his mind that they're here together and safe. He sometimes lays in bed far longer than he's supposed to, just because he can't believe he hasn't been left yet. He'd do anything for Juno.

All good things, however, must come to an end. 

It was a morning like any other, or it should have been. Juno woke up to his alarm, turned it off, and went back to sleep. He didn't notice the lack of comment on sleeping in, and he didn't notice how cold the bed was as he shifted. When Juno was finally awake enough to decipher his surroundings it had been several hours. He stretched as he sat up and looked to the other side of the bed, where Nureyev was  _supposed_ to be. He immediately panicked. He tried to rationalize it, maybe he was just in the kitchen? Or out on the couch reading? He liked to read those old-fashioned, paper books, maybe that's it. But as he walked out into the rest of the dingy apartment he found nothing. It all felt off. Like Nureyev had somehow taken an integral part of the building with him. 

Juno really tried not to spiral into an all-out panic, he really did but some things can't be helped. His mind started to supply less and less helpful thoughts as the minutes passed. Thoughts like what if Nureyev finally realized he wasn't worth his time or why'd he just  _leave_ like that or maybe this is karma for leaving Nureyev alone in that hotel oh so long ago. There was some part of himself that felt justified, some part of himself that had been waiting for the other shoe to drop and here it is.

Juno muttered a curse, choked back some useless tears, and poured himself some cheap alcohol he got who knows how long ago. It was after the fourth drink that he saw the paper sitting out of place on his table. His heart dropped, he was sure this was some note detailing exactly why Nureyev left him and why he was never coming back. Juno threw back what he had left of his drink and picked it up. 

In an almost unreadable scrawl, it read, _"Sorry, be back soon - your favorite thief"_  

It was signed with what Juno thought was supposed to be a heart, but it looked more like a squashed pumpkin. He let out a laugh, it's a desperate and hysterical sound but it's something. 

* * *

Peter didn't mean for this to happen, then again he knew the risks of staying on one planet for too long. He just meant to run to the store and buy -- with real legal money -- some more pens as all of his had run out. If you had asked him what happened he'd say he knew the guy was on Mars in the first place but that's just to save face. Peter Nureyev, master thief and a man who changes identities as easily as breathing was caught by some guy he'd angered in the past. He'd tracked Peter down and pinned him to Hyperion City and now Peter was paying the consequences. 

Peter was stuck, almost unconscious, in an alley behind the damn convenience store with a particularly nasty blaster wound and a knife in his thigh. The guy had definitely not set his blaster to stun if Peter's left side had anything to say about it. 

He was losing blood fast and couldn't find his comm, had the guy taken it? Did Peter just drop it? He couldn't remember, that was probably a bad sign but Peter didn't care. He would call out for help but on top of wounding his pride that would bring more attention to his little life on Mars and who knows if the guy is still out there. 

Peter tried to shift but his side and thigh screamed and his vision blurred. 

"Guess that stuff's supposed to say inside huh?" He said to himself looking down at the blood. He looked for his comm again but couldn't feel it in any of his thousand coat pockets. He cursed and looked at his leg. If he pulled the knife out he'd lose more blood, but if he left it in he definitely wouldn't be able to walk to help, especially not with his side oozing like it was. 

Peter started to drift in and out of consciousness. At some point, he remembered the note he'd left. He hoped it was somewhere Juno would find easy, he didn't remember where he put it but that was probably because of the blood loss. Peter now regretted saying he'd be back soon he was laying behind a convenience store and about to pass out from blood loss, there was nothing soon about it. His last lucid thought before he finally lost the fight against unconsciousness was that he hoped Juno would find him soon, he wasn't sure how long he'd survive after losing consciousness. 

Just before he fell into unconsciousness he said, "I love you, Juno Steel." to the empty alley, after all, who knows if he'd ever be able to say it again.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a discord conversation with @intersetellarvagabond (who helped come up with the summary) and @fann-art-ic on tumblr in which juno and peter get luped


End file.
